Going My Way

Kulje tietäni / Vandra min väg. US 1944. PC: Paramount. P+D: Leo McCarey. CAST: Bing Crosby (Father Chuck O'Malley), Barry Fitzgerald (Father Fitzgibbon), Rise Stevens (Genevieve Linden). 126 min. A Universal print viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 17 April 2009. - A brilliant print. - Revisited: a masterpiece made during WWII about spiritual regeneration. - The old St. Dominic church is deteriorating, and even finally burns down, but Father O'Malley comes to start a revival with his high spirits. The generation clash (qf. Make Way for Tomorrow) with the old Father Fitzgibbon. - The music is based on the contrast between the Metropolitan Opera, where Genevieve sings the habanera from Carmen, and the church, where Bing Crosby leads a magnificent performance of "Adeste fideles". - It seems that O'Malley has been in love with Genevieve, but because of a misunderstanding had come to believe that Genevieve was not interested in him anymore. - This is a film about the joy of helping, about the pain of the generation gap, and the difficulty of giving up. - It is played as a comedy, but there is a profound sense of sadness and disappointment, also because of the human condition in 1944, as in The Bells of St. Mary's. - Going My Way was made in order to make The Bells of St. Mary's, which was Leo McCarey's original project.

The Bells of St. Mary's

Pyhän Maarian kellot / Klockorna i St. Mary. US 1945 © Rainbow Productions, Inc. P+D: Leo McCarey. SC: Dudley Nichols – from a story by Leo McCarey. DP: George Barnes. COST: Edith Head. M: Robert Emmett Dolan. Songs: "The Bells Of St. Mary's" (Douglas Furber, A. Emmett Adams); "Aren't You Glad You're You?" (Johnny Burke, James Van Heusen); "In The Land Of Beginning Again" (George W. Meyer, Grant Clarke); "Varvindar friska"; "Adeste fideles (O, Come All Ye Faithful)" (John Francis Wade); "O sanctissima" (trad. virsi). CAST: Bing Crosby (Father O'Malley), Ingrid Bergman (Sister Mary Benedict), Henry Travers (Horace P. Bogardus), William Gargan (Joe Gallagher), Ruth Donnelly (Sister Michael), Joan Carroll (Patsy Gallagher), Martha Sleeper (Mrs. Gallagher), Rhys Williams (Dr. McKay), Dickie Tyler (Eddie), Una O'Connor (Mrs. Breen). 125 min. A UCLA print viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 15 April 2009. - This is a much screened print of a restored version apparently based on partly challenging materials. Mostly the definition of light is beautiful. - A masterpiece revisited. - I am not a religious person, but as years go by, my respect and admiration for religious work keeps growing. - There are several profound ideas in this film produced during WWII. - There is a fight among the schoolchildren in the yard. Bing Crosby defends the boy who wins: "On the outside it's a man's world". Ingrid Bergman: "How are they doing?". - "I turned the other cheek. Then he really let me have it". - The funniest scene is the "boxing nun" scene; it's also very thought-provoking. It brings to mind that Leo McCarey was the co-creator of the Laurel and Hardy "tit for tat" concept. - The story of the troubled millionaire who finally donates the schoolhouse to the nuns. The message of the film is that doing good for others is good for your heart, even literally. - It is the story of the joy of giving, when every day is Christmas. - If we don't fail sometimes our successes don't mean anything. - You don't become a nun to run away from something but because you've found something. - The final prayer: remove all bitterness from my heart. - The final, breathtaking scene: "You have a touch of TB". "Thank you... you have made me very happy". The misunderstanding of Ingrid Bergman's transfer is cleared (it is to save her). - The beautiful close-ups of the protagonists who have sworn abstinence. - The film is humoristic, but there is also a sense of hidden profound sadness and disappointment which the protagonists fight to overcome.